England against the badger cull

England against the badger cull

Bill Oddie Wildlife warrior copyright Gordon McGlone PhotoNatura

The last time that I joined a public protest march was in 1969 when I was a newly hatched degree student of Zoology and Botany. That was until noon Saturday June 1st when I walked with thousands in the London Against The Cull from Millbank to The Sanctuary. With people attending from all over the country, is was more like England against the badger cull. Indeed, even the NFU’s imbalanced opinion poll has confirmed their view.

England against the Badger cull copyright Gordon McGlone PhotoNatura

The objects of my two protest marches were very different, but the reason that I marched was the same: I object profoundly to government policies that ignore the most informed experts in the subject and snub the will of the majority of the people.

The London march, unlike my 1969 Swansea experience, was an example of hugely professional policing. The atmosphere was family friendly, deeply passionate and a clear public statement against badger culling as a sensible and acceptable policy.

Now it will be very tempting (and no doubt some of the less thoughtful observers will fall to the temptation) to dismiss the thousands of people in masks and costumes walking in London as being uninformed about bovine TB, unaffected by its impact and unimportant to the future of farming. They would be wrong to fall into this trap; the marchers are constituents and consumers. Their votes, in the ballot box and at the supermarket till, dictate future polities and thereby the vibrancy of British agriculture.

A badger cull would not solve the problem of bTB but could create three divides:

A larger cultural barrier between town and countryside

A sharpening of the debate whose wildlife and countryside is it?

A greater resentment that public money is being wasted for tactical advantage and not public good

In support of a wide spread badger cull, government ministers refer to its potential 12 to 16% benefit; that is the rate at which bovine TB would increase as a disease of cattle would occur more slowly. Even if this mystical benefit were to be achieved, it would leave the great mass of the bTB untouched; an 84% hole in their thinking. As the current Defra policy is clearly failing to tackle the disease and a badger cull isn’t going to do the whole trick either by ministers’ own admission – something is clearly missing from the recipe.

Arthur and his minder Tara copyright Gordon McGlone PhotoNatura

What is needed to sort out this bovine TB mess?

The answer must include some of the tough remedies that the farming industry will find unpleasant. These must form the centerpiece of the new bTB strategy ‘due for publication soon’. (quote).

Divert the public money that is being wasted on the flawed badger cull pilots into a coherent strategy using all the other tools in the box. The badgercull is the lump hammer; blunt, clumsy, unselective, damaging and crude.

Tighten the cattle bTB testing processes and procedures. The BVA needs to support professional standards rather than getting distracted with controversial and muddled policy statements.

Keep badgers out of farm buildings; the Northern Ireland Assembly has supported improved bio-security on farms but in England it is often paid for at the farmer’s own expense. When applied correctly (barriers, gates, fencing) it can be 100% efficient. If farmers are so keen on a badger cull to reduce badger-cattle interactions why not apply the same enthusiasm to keeping badgers away from cattle?

Reduce cattle movements; Bernard van Goethem in the EU evidence to the EFRA select committee, flagged this as the single biggest difference between the UK and the rest of Europe. 14 million cattle movements are made each year.

Make data about bTB herd breakdowns publicly available. At present data protection laws prevent even the most finicky neighbours and stock buyers knowing what is going on just down the road.

The thousands who marched in London clearly ‘Value Nature’. That value does not appear on the nation’s balance sheet; but it is a real value and it is high. The cash value of Nature, through the ecosystem services that it provides, is now better understood. That worth must not be ignored, yet the removal of 70% of a mammal high in the food chain would have a significant but unknown ecological impact.

The badger cull cuts across all groups and interests copyright Gordon McGlone PhotoNatura

Brock has also been a valued part of culture and folklore for hundreds of years. The badger’s recent recovery, following legal protection of badgers and their setts, has allowed strong populations to become established in many parts of England, especially the South West.

If a badger cull were to be rolled out in 10 new zones each year for four years, as envisioned by Owen Paterson and the NFU, there is a real risk of local badger extinction. Three future cull zones are proposed for Cornwall. I am not a betting man but if culling were to proceed the odds against the Cornish Brock look scary to me.

Comments on this post

You are spot on, Mr McGlone. Thank you for your immaculately-written expose of all that is wrong in this Government’s thinking wrt badgers and the control of bTB. I’m going to share this via Facebook to educate others.

Reading this was like a breathe of fresh air!!! The ugly truth exposed!!!
I think the BBC have put a gag on the Springwatch presenters, two weeks in and not a mention of a Badger, nothing, not a flicker, considering Springwatch success is owed to it’s predecessor ‘Badgerwatch’ it is shameful that the BBC champions for wildlife have shut the door on the Badger. Springwatch has a Badger Blog, please go on there and leave your comments, let them know what you think about the BBC turning there back on the Badger and hiding behind the word ‘impartial’……. chris Packham has spoken out against the cull, but not on springwatch, so shameful!